Salt glands

Salt glands

An Introduction to Seabirds and Their Study

Published in Jaime A. Ramos, Leonel Pereira, Seabird Biodiversity and Human Activities, 2022

Marie Claire Gatt, José Pedro Granadeiro, Paulo Catry

Seabirds constitute a polyphyletic unit, with many unrelated taxa displaying convergent evolution to adapt to the marine environment. Functioning within a marine environment requires seabirds to be able to effectively manage salt balance. While some species may make use of available fresh water, many do not, and much of their hydration comes from food. In any case, saltwater ingestion cannot be completely avoided. To control osmolality, marine birds have supra-orbital salt glands which secrete concentrated saline solution from their orbital or nasal cavity, excreting excess salt. These glands are the major pathway of salt excretion, in contrast with other vertebrates in which this role is taken up by the kidneys (Gerstberger and Gray 1993).

The impact of soil chloride concentration and salt type on the excretions of four recretohalophytes with different excretion mechanisms

View Article

Journal Information

Published in International Journal of Phytoremediation, 2020

Amélie A. S. Litalien, Allison Rutter, Barbara A. Zeeb

One plant species with multicellular glands, A. maritima, one with salt bladders, A. canescens, and two species with bi-cellular glands, S. pectinata and D. spicata, were selected to provide comparisons both between salt gland types and within a salt gland type.

Explore chapters and articles related to this topic

An Introduction to Seabirds and Their Study

The impact of soil chloride concentration and salt type on the excretions of four recretohalophytes with different excretion mechanisms